1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing sausages or the like, and more particularly to an apparatus for manufacturing sausages or the like which can be used irrespective of the size of sausages or the like to be produced, has a simplified transmission mechanism, and facilitates maintenance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, apparatus for manufacturing sausages or the like (e.g., Wieners) have been known in which a material such as a meat emulsion is discharged from a nozzle and is filled into a casing, the casing is held by a chuck and rotated, the casing filled with the material is thereby twisted to link the individual portions filled with the material into the form of a chain, and the chain of linked products are suspended sequentially in the form of loops. (Refer to Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 5899/1966 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,191,222) and 13329/1989 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,796).
With the conventionally known apparatus for manufacturing sausages or the like, although the feeding speed of a linking device determines the speed of the overall apparatus, the feeding speed of the linking device is determined by the strength and rigidity of the casing, the capacity of removing the products suspended in the form of loops, the capability of processing by heat treatment facilities which is conducted as a following process, or other factors. Hence, the feeding speed of the linking device required is not uniform.
In addition, the number of revolutions of the chuck for twisting the casing is determined by the length of a product produced (i.e., the length of individual sausages, hereinafter referred to as the length of one link). That is, while the linking device advances the length of one link while holding the stuffed casing, the chuck must rotate by a portion of necessary twists. For this reason, the number of revolutions of the chuck must be altered in response to the change in the product length. Furthermore, the rate of slippage occurring between the product and the chuck holding the casing and rotating to give twists to it differs depending on the outside diameter of the product, the rigidity of the casing, the hardness of the material, and others. This also causes the number of revolutions of the chuck to vary. Consequently, the number of revolutions required for the chuck is not uniform.
In the apparatus for manufacturing sausages or the like disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5899/1966, (U.S. Pat. No. 3,191,222) a pump for discharging the material is constituted by a gear pump. In this known technique, a change in the amount of discharge by the pump is effected by replacing the gear, so that the change in the amount of pump discharge is not continuous and takes place in steps. Consequently, it has been difficult to accurately obtain an amount of discharge commensurate with the operational state of the apparatus. This means that the apparatus can be operated at a lower operating speed than a necessary operating speed, which has not been favorable in terms of the increased productivity of the apparatus.
In the apparatus for manufacturing sausages or the like disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 13329/1989 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,796), the above-described drawback is overcome, but the problem of the change in the number of revolutions of the chuck has not yet been solved. Namely, with the apparatus for manufacturing sausages or the like disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5899/1966 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,191,222), the number of revolutions of the chuck is altered by replacing a pair of gears incorporated in a hermetically sealed gear housing. In addition, with apparatus for manufacturing sausages or the like disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 13329/1989 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,796), the number of revolutions is altered by replacing either one of a pair of sprockets.
Accordingly, the change in the number of revolutions of the chuck in the prior art is effected in steps. Moreover, since the number of steps is small in the light of the number of replacement parts, it is necessary to rotate the chuck with a number of revolutions more than an appropriate number of revolutions. Consequently, a greater number of twists than is required for the product is imparted to the product. In addition, with the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5899/1966 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,191,222), in order to replace the pair of gears, the operation of disassembling the hermetically closed gear housing and reassembling the gears housing after the gear replacement is required. This disassembling and reassembling operation for the gear replacement cannot be conducted in practice since it involves a high degree of trained skill and a long period of work required for the operation. In addition, lubricating oil is filled in the gear housing, and since the peripheral portions are contaminated with this lubricating oil, it takes time in cleaning them, and it can therefore be said that this is an operation which needs to be avoided by all means as a foodstuff processing machine.
Furthermore, with the apparatus for manufacturing sausages or the like disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5899/1966, the pump, the chuck, and the linking device are driven by a single motor. Meanwhile, with the apparatus for manufacturing sausages or the like disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 13329/1989 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,191,222), these components are either driven by a single motor in the same way as described above, or the pump is driven by one of two motors, while the chuck and the linking device are driven by the other motor. Consequently, the motor on the one hand, and the pump, the chuck, and the linking device on the other, must be linked by an intricate transmission mechanism, so that difficulties have been experienced in parts replacement during maintenance and an inspection operation.
Loopers used in the apparatus for manufacturing sausages or the like disclosed in the aforementioned Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 5899/1966 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,796) and 13329/1989 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,796) undergo rotational movement or swinging movement to the left or right. Such motion of the loopers make it difficult for the sausages or the like to pass through the interior of loopers, giving rise to the trouble of the sausages or the like becoming clogged inside them. Furthermore, complicated mechanisms have been required for moving the loopers.